BANGALORE - The serial bomb
blasts that rocked Bangladesh in mid-August have
drawn attention to the role of Islamist
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in funding
extremism in the country. Intelligence agencies
have identified at least 10 Islamist NGOs that are
channeling funds to various Islamist extremist
outfits in the country.
On August 17,
hundreds of bombs exploded almost simultaneously
across Bangladesh, killing three and injuring
scores of others. While the bombs did not signal
any great technical expertise - they were crude,
homemade bombs - the geographic spread of the
operation (the blasts occurred in 63 of the
country’s 64 districts) signaled that a
well-established terror network was behind the
violence. The Jama’atul Mujahideen
Bangladesh
(JMB), a banned terror group, claimed
responsibility for the blasts. The serial blasts
forced the Bangladesh government, which has for
years been denying that Islamist extremists are
present and active in the country, to admit the
involvement of Islamists in the violence.
Meanwhile, a report prepared by
Bangladeshi intelligence agencies has confirmed
long-suspected links between Islamic NGOs and the
mounting extremist violence in the country. The
report, which was prepared after a six-month
investigation into the working of Islamic NGOs,
named 10 NGOs with links to extremist activity.
The NGOs are the Revival of Islamic Heritage
Society (RIHS), Rabita Al-Alam Al-Islami, Society
of Social Reforms, Qatar Charitable Society,
Al-Muntada Al-Islami, Islamic Relief Agency,
Al-Forkan Foundation, International Relief
Organization, Kuwait Joint Relief Committee and
the Muslim Aid Bangladesh.
The report
found that more than 100 foreigners from different
West Asian and African countries were working with
these NGOs and were in the country illegally. They
had come to Bangladesh on tourist visas and did
not have work permits. All 10 NGOs are based in
West Asia but have been active in Bangladesh for
several years.
The RIHS tops the list of
NGOs that are now under the scanner. In 2002, the
US State Department had blacklisted some of the
RIHS offices because of links with al-Qaeda.
Following the blasts in August, the Bangladesh
government deported some RIHS officials. The
deportees included Sudanese, Libyan and Algerian
nationals. The Bangladeshi media have reported
that they were deported "following specific
allegations of their involvement in instigation of
Islamist militancy and extremism". It appears that
four of the deported officials were earlier
working in Bangladesh for Al-Haramine, which is
banned worldwide. In 2004, when Al-Haramine was
banned in Bangladesh, all 14 of its foreign
officials left the country but four of them
returned some months later to join the RIHS.
Bangladeshi intelligence agencies apparently were
in the dark about their return.
According
to the report submitted by intelligence agencies,
the Kuwait-headquartered RIHS has been channeling
funds to Asadullah al-Ghalib, leader of the JMB,
and Ahle Hadith Andolon who was arrested in
February for violent attacks on NGO offices and
cultural programs. RIHS and Ghalib’s organization
have reportedly constructed across Bangladesh more
than 1,000 mosques and madrassas, which are
Muslim seminaries allegedly used for the
recruitment and motivation of fighters. Ghalib has
also used the RIHS-channeled funds to finance the
JMB’s operations, purchase weapons and finance
training.
Bangladesh has a huge NGO
presence, probably more than any other country.
Most of the NGOs are engaged in development work,
poverty alleviation, healthcare, gender equity and
so on, and a majority receive foreign funding for
their work.
There are several Islamist
NGOs in the country. Many of these Islamist NGOs
too are engaged in development work among the
poor, building mosques and madrassas,
running orphanages and preaching Islam. Some among
them, however, are functioning as front
organizations for terror outfits, channeling funds
from abroad to fuel terrorist activity in the
country.
In some cases, it appears funds
from abroad meant for religious work and
construction of mosques and madrassas in
Bangladesh were diverted for the jihadi cause.
"People like Ghalib used these funds to recruit
and train jihadi fighters," an Indian Intelligence
official said. Local NGOs that were working among
orphans and the poor were denied funds meant for
their work. Abul Kalam Azad writes in the
Bangladesh’s English daily The New Age that the
RIHS started funding madrassas in 1993 but
stopped doing so in July 2001. Seven
madrassas located in Bogra, Rajshahi,
Bagerhat and Satkhira districts were receiving
funds until then, and the sudden stoppage of funds
affected their capacity to provide food and
housing to the orphans in their care.
The
RIHS had diverted its funds to Ghalib to finance
terrorist activity. While the RIHS is an important
link in the Islamist extremist chain in Bangladesh
and the Middle East, there are scores of other
"welfare organizations" based in United Arab
Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia that are
ostensibly funding the building of mosques but in
fact are into the business of funding extremism.
Besides, there are NGOs that are not even
registered with the government that are vital
parts of the funding/recruiting/training network.
Banks are another link in the extremist
funding network. The online Public Affairs
Magazine observes: "Bangladesh has a suspiciously
large number of banks - 54 - for its failed
economy, and their mainstay is to launder
terrorist funds received and further transmitted
through hawala (informal money transfer)
networks. The banks also heavily subsidize
madrassas education, fund construction of
mosques and contribute to the Haj
(pilgrimage to Mecca) ... Not just Bangladeshi
NGOs, but even the state prefers Saudi and general
Islamic funding to multilateral lending. Japan is
Bangladesh’s largest donor followed by the US and
EU, but diplomats said Bangladesh is unkeen on
their aid, because post-utilization certificates
have to be submitted. Saudi funding, on the other
hand, is direct to individuals, which permits huge
leaks."
Bangladeshi intelligence officials
who spoke to Asia Times Online said they were in
the dark until recently about the links with
terror and Islamist NGOs and banks. They blamed
their professed ignorance on the NGOs "skillfully
hiding" of their real agenda of funding extremism
behind a veil of development activity.
While the Islamist NGOs that have funded
terror might have hidden their illegal activities
well, a more important reason for these outfits
being able to carry on their work is that such
funding has the backing of powerful sections
within Bangladesh’s coalition government. The
ruling coalition, which is led by the center-right
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), includes the
fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami and the Islami
Oikya Jote.
Several leaders of the Jamaat
and the Islami Oikya Jote are known to have links
with terror groups such as the JMB and the Jagrata
Muslim Janata, Bangladesh (JMJB).
"The BNP
itself might not be supporting the terror outfits
but by appeasing its allies and ignoring the
activity of their terrorist friends, it has
indirectly allowed extremists to function easily,"
the Indian intelligence official said. He points
out that "it was not that Bangladeshi security
agencies were not aware of the links between the
Islamist NGOs and the terror outfits but that they
were under orders to ignore it." He added that
"there are close links between local police and
the extremists."
While foreign funds
channeled through Islamist NGOs are an important
part of jihadi financing, increasingly terror
organizations are becoming self-reliant. They are
said to be running business ventures and have
invested in transport, pharmaceutical companies,
financial institutions and real estate, writes
Zayadul Ahsan in the Daily Star, a Dhaka-based
English daily.
Abul Barkat, an economist
and general secretary of the Bangladesh Economic
Association, told the Indian fortnightly news
magazine Frontline that beside the regular inflow
of funds from abroad, extremist outfits now earn
an annual net income of Taka 1.2 billion. (US$1.82
million). Barkat said 27% of the income came from
banking, insurance, leasing and various other
financial companies, about 20% from NGOs, about
10% from wholesalers, retailers and department
stores, another 10% from the health sector,
including pharmaceutical companies and diagnostic
centers, about 9% from educational institutions
and some 8% from the real estate business.
Also, the JMB and its leaders are involved
in money-laundering, which ensures a steady flow
of finances. Investigators would appear to be
seeing only the tip of the jihadi funding iceberg
in Bangladesh.
Sudha
Ramachandran is an independent
journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.
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